Tokyo Stock Exchange outage hits traders unawares

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) new derivatives trading system, which has had millions of dollars invested in it, was hit with technical problems on Friday 8 February. The glitch forced TSE to halt trading in March futures contracts for the TOPIX index throughout the afternoon, preventing traders from closing positions in the contract.

According to a status update released by the exchange, the 'necessary program correction' was completed by Monday, and all contracts including March futures for the TOPIX index were trading normally as of Tuesday morning.

The exchange also says that it has determined the cause of the malfunction and is committed to drawing up and implementing a plan to prevent any recurrence of the problem. However, it has yet to publicly announce what this plan will consist of.